laputa

01. K’naan wrote “Soobax” to protest the occupation of Somalia, his home country by hostile troops. Soo bax means “Get Out,” according to the amnesty international site. I am majorly fond of K’naan, and this is a great song.

02. G-Dragon, dubbed “the Korean Lady Gaga” by my friend K., singing his hit song “Heartbreaker.” Is it the white hair or the commitment to androgyny? I’m hooked.

03. More Korean pop, from the Wonder Girls — “Nobody.” Retrofabulous! I played this one on my ipod for two weeks straight. This video has a plot and everything, heh. How many chances to be a star hinge on lack of toilet paper? Probably a lot of ’em.

03. And even more KPop, this time it’s two bands in one: BigBang and 2NE1 collaborating on “Lollipop.” The great thing is that pop basically transcends language. The outfits, the lights, the colors, the ridiculously pretty people — they all speak for themselves.

04. This one is a year old but I just heard about it via SoundRoots — Sister Fa, who is an activist in Africa but also is very famous hip-hop world, wrote “Milyamba” about the lives of Senegalese women in the countryside. And you thought life at your desk was hard.

05. Not really about music, but if you’re a language geek like me you will like this video about trying to emphasize gender in written Arabic.

06. Fusion! It’s Celtic + Indian, bet you never saw that coming. Vancouver band Delhi 2 Dublin combines them beautifully, and it’s way fun to listen to (videos are pretty low quality, but here is one for “Apple Jam” and one for their CD release party in Vancouver). Hear more at their site.

07. Via BoingBoing: In 1972, Oleg Sharov played “Flight of the Bumblebee” on the accordion. It sounds very beelike. (“Bumblebee” was written by Rimsky-Korsakov)

08. Last but not least, the ending song to Castle In the Sky (Laputa), a Hayao Miyazaki film made in 1986. It’s a song about setting out with nothing but a desire to find something lost and beautiful.